On May 4, 1970, in Kent, Ohio, 28 National Guardsmen fired their weapons at a group of anti-war demonstrators on the Kent State University campus, killing four students and wounding nine.
The tragedy was a watershed moment for a nation divided by the
conflict in Vietnam, and further galvanized the anti-war movement.
The shootings led to protests on college campuses across the
country.
Photographs of the massacre became enduring images of the
anti-war movement. In 1974, at the end of a criminal investigation,
a federal court dropped all charges levied against eight Ohio
National Guardsmen for their role in the Kent State students’
deaths.
